During the “lateral thinkers” protests on Saturday and especially on Sunday in Berlin, the police arrested almost a thousand people or temporarily restricted their freedom.
The police announced this on Monday evening in their balance sheet of the demo weekend.
More than 60 police officers were injured, some seriously, and one demonstrator died of a heart attack, according to the autopsy report.
According to their own statements, the police also initiated 503 preliminary investigations on Sunday alone, including suspicion of resistance in 59 and assault against law enforcement officers in 43 cases. There were other reports because of the suspicion of a particularly serious breach of the peace, the release of prisoners, the violation of the Freedom of Assembly Act and participation in a prohibited meeting, as well as violations of the infection control regulations.
According to the autopsy, a participant who died on Sunday after a police check in the forbidden protest of the so-called “lateral thinker” scene in Berlin died of a heart attack. The investigation of the 48-year-old man's body by the Charité had "provisionally revealed a heart attack as the cause of death," said the Berlin Public Prosecutor's Office on Monday. A final investigation is still pending.
"There are no indications of external violence that caused death in the course of the arrest," the authority continued.
According to the information, the man had broken a police chain, knocked down and injured a police officer.
This then followed and arrested him.
Immediately afterwards, the protester complained of shoulder pain, and later also of chest pain and a tingling sensation in his hands before he collapsed.
Resuscitation attempts that were initiated immediately were unsuccessful, and the man died in the Charité intensive care unit in the evening.
Attack on journalist
As the Verdi union announced, the Berlin state manager of the German Union of Journalists, Jörg Reichel, was attacked by participants. According to his own account, he was dragged from the bike. Demonstrators then kicked and kicked him. They only fled when passers-by intervened. Reichel was injured and had to be treated in a clinic. According to the police, the state security took over the investigation.
“This brutal act of violence clearly shows that the so-called 'lateral thinker demos' are not about criticism and freedom of expression, but about a collection of enemies of democracy,” said Verdi Federal Executive Board member Christoph Schmitz.
Reichel's photo and name were shared in relevant Telegram groups.
The union said that he himself made threats and hostility public.
According to its deputy spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer, the federal government perceived the riots "with great concern".
Violence from demonstrations is not acceptable, she said on Monday in Berlin.